


Dies Irae (and all that Tecno-Emo Jazz)

by YellowMagicalGirl



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dungeons & Dragons, Alternate Universe - The Adventure Zone Fusion, Amnesiac Character(s), Amnesiac Krel Tarron, Balance Arc, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Dungeons & Dragons Spell Mechanics, Dungeons & Dragons Terminology, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Except this is a oneshot so they're not even gonna get far past enemies, Holding Hands, Krexie Week 2021, M/M, Music, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Takes place between The Crystal Kingdom and The Eleventh Hour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:55:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29228814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YellowMagicalGirl/pseuds/YellowMagicalGirl
Summary: For once, Krel has a night off, and he goes to see a concert. Unfortunately for him, Douxie had the same plans.
Relationships: Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan/Krel Tarron
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9
Collections: Krexie Week 2021





	Dies Irae (and all that Tecno-Emo Jazz)

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [an AU I made nine months ago](https://yellowmagicalgirl.tumblr.com/post/615711264127303680/taz-toa-au-either-set-of-characters-in-either) (though I decided that AAARRRGGHH!!! fit better for the Wordless One than Blinky did).
> 
> The zå̂lͧͤ̽̕g͟o̫̼͍ͨ̎ text is used to emphasize whenever Krel is remembering memories that he isn't allowed to remember.
> 
> Edit: a glossary of D&D terms used in this fic has been added to the end notes.

Tonight, Krel had actual time for himself. He was able to leave the bureau for reasons than going to go find a relic and save the world. As it was, even as he signed out of the bureau he felt like he was sneaking off. He felt like he was leaving Toby and Jim to pick up the pieces when it was discovered that Krel had left.

H̴e f͕elt ͔̠͒̍l̿ͤi͡k̤̤̿̔e ̭̄he͓̩̗̅ͣ̄ ̵̩͍̠w̞̐as ̤͂ä̝́c͉̣̫͊̽͌͟t̟̼͈ͭ̾̀͞i̸̥̘͛ͪn̥ġ̡̼̹̯̈́̌ ̴̖͂l̷i̢k̖̫ͦͮe̬̅ ̲ͫÁ͒͢j̓ͩ̓a͢ ̀ͥ́̚a͠l͎͎ͭ̚w̤̝a̘̝ys̾̔̕ ̟ͭg͞o̻͋ͧͅţ ̷ṭ̫̻o.̵ͥ͊

Krel shook his head and focused on his surroundings instead of the feeling that he had forgotten something. He had chosen to spend his night off at a concert being held on the edge of Neverwinter. The band playing, Day of Wrath, had advertised themselves as techno-emo. They were alright. They weren't as good as Krel had been, back before the accident that had ended his career as DJ Kleb, and they certainly weren't anywhere near the level of actual adventuring bards. There was magic in a bard's song, and the only magic on stage was Prestidigitation. Literally any magewright could perform a version of that spell. Still, the music did have a pleasing sound.

Krel glanced around at the other concert-goers. Most of them were grouped up in pairs or trios, and many of them were dancing to the beat. There were a couple people alone, much like himself. Krel looked back to the stage, and then did a double-take back to one of the other concert-goers.

There was a small possibility that this man only _looked_ like the reaper that Krel and his coworkers had had to fight last Candlenights. But really, the more likely possibility was that Douxie had changed his clothes from the blue-and brown to an all black ensemble, and had let his hair out the bun it had been kept in. Really, the greatest similarity in clothing was the black hood, except Douxie was wearing a hoodie right now instead of a long cloak that would billow in a wind that wasn't even there. It looked good on him. Not that it was hard for Douxie _not_ to look good as long as he had flesh on his bones. Not that Krel cared, of course.

Krel fumbled around and found his serrator as well as his tinker's tools. Okay. He could work with this. Move a little bit away, behind some people, and don the programmed Alter Self he'd been working on, which would cause him to appear human. There weren't many akiridions in Faerun, these days. Perhaps a large amount of them had died in the Relic Wars? I̴͚̎t̬̼̋̚ ̂ŵ͞a̠̜̙ͬͫ̆s̠ͧn'̹̀t̙ͯ lͯ͠í͚͓͊k̰͔ͪ͒è ͚̫ͥ͒K̷̦͗̈ͅr͌̍ē̈́̇l ̪̿ẉ͈̈́́ä̴̻̘ͩs ̴t̪̦̼ͮ̄ͫĥ̳̺ͨe̲͑͟ ͇ò͔̬̱́ͭñ͚̖ͮl̴̤̝͂̉y͕̳̮ ̦͆l̩͌ỉ̗͓͈̌̽v͎i̷͗ng̣̬̰ ̜̺̒ͩ͞on̟e҉ iͩͯ͐n ͓ṱ͕̺̾̾̅͠hi̸̤͓̖̐̊͗s̞̱̘̽͐̌ ̆͏̟pͧͨl̥̎ḁ̡͔͙͂̽̉n͚̣ar͑ͯͮ҉ ̵̹̈́s̯̊y̧s̹̞̖t͘ë̱̻́̏͠m̞̲̥̓̓ͥ̀.̵ However, the only other four-armed beings that Krel knew were alive and well were Blinky, the sage in charge of the fantasy gachapon, and the handful of Astral Self monks at the bureau. A two-armed form, while clumsier, would be great for the next time Jim, Toby, and Krel needed to do something like infiltrate a train while looking for a relic.

Douxie frowned and then looked directly at Krel. Before the artificer could do anything, Douxie pointed a finger at Krel. Krel swallowed, hoping that Douxie hadn't gotten some sort of upgrade since their last fight. Was pointing a somantic component for the spell Finger of Death? Krel couldn't remember, but even for an artificer he was terrible at con saves, and thus if the spell Douxie was casting was Finger of Death then Krel wouldn't even get a death saving throw because of how badly it would hurt.

"What are you doing here?" Krel heard Douxie whisper. The reaper marched towards Krel, but he didn't do anything else threatening.

Oh, right. Pointing at someone was also a component for Message. Besides, Douxie thought he was so high and mighty as a reaper of the Cat King. He probably wouldn't _dare_ to tarnish himself with a necromantic spell. Oh no, that would probably be _stooping_ to the level of death crimes that Douxie had claimed Jim, Toby, and Krel all had committed. Really, Krel would _remember_ if he had died eight times. Even if he had somehow died during the Relic Wars like he supposed just about every other akiridion in Faerun had, the voidfish would have brought back those memories.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Krel retorted. Secretly, he was thankful that Douxie had cast Message - even though the last time he had done so, it had left Jim missing a finger - just so the two of them could talk without having to shout over the music and the crowd.

"Oh, don't even _try_ your games with me, Krel, I'm not in the mood. The one night off I take this decade, and _you're_ here. What're you gonna do, kidnap everyone at eldritch cannon-point so you can use them in a necromantic ritual?"

"Me? Kidnap? I would never! For all I know, _you're_ here to falsely accuse someone of being a death criminal -"

"- you _are_ a death criminal, though currently pardoned -"

"- and cart them off to the Eternal Stockade, and _I'm_ going to have to use what I thought was going to be a nice, peaceful night off to stop  
you!"

Douxie stopped in front of Krel before tightly grabbing one of Krel's hands. His hand was colder than it should be, given that Douxie appeared to be human. It was colder than an akiridion's, cold as a corpse.

"And just _what_ do you think you're doing?" Krel hissed, though he was tempted to break the Message chain they'd had going back and forth so he could yell loudly enough to get people's attention. But no, he wasn't going to do that. Douxie and Krel were probably the two most powerful people in this crowd. No one could help Krel.

"Think of it this way. We can keep an eye on each other instead of worrying about nefarious plots."

Krel sighed and shifted his hand so that he would be more comfortable holding Douxie's. Well, at least his arcane focus could turn into a melee weapon if anything went wrong. Still, Krel was thankful that he hadn't been able to activate the Alter Self spell; if he had, he suspected he might be blushing.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: "Dies Irae" translates to "Day of Wrath" according to Google Translate. "Dies Irae" is also a funeral hymn, and I felt like it'd work since Douxie works for a god of death and the grave in this AU.
> 
> I understand that magewrights are a concept from Eberron and the Balance campaign (as well as this fic) took place within a version of the Forgotten Realms, but I felt like listing out all the PC classes that could cast prestidigitation would make the band Day of Wrath seem more powerful than they actually are at this point in time. Also, I know Alter Self doesn't allow you to change your basic shape (i.e. number of limbs) but Polymorph isn't a spell that Artificers have access to. Plus, Krel would only be eighth level, and Polymorph is a fourth level spell, which Krel wouldn't be able to access until he's thirteenth level since artificers are half-casters.
> 
> Glossary
> 
>   * Alter Self: A level 2 spell that allows one to shapeshift. Normally it wouldn't be able to cause someone with two limbs to have four limbs or vice versa, but I decided to alter it since it would be giving Krel the disadvantage of only two arms in exchange for looking like a human.
>   * Astral Self Monks: Monks are a player character class that focuses on martial arts. Astral self monks can get a pair of extra limbs, though these limbs are made of magic.
>   * Bard: Player character class that focuses on using music to cast spells.
>   * Candlenights: A holiday from the podcast that this fic is based on.
>   * Death Criminal: From the podcast this is based upon; a person who has committed a crime against the laws of life and dead, such as becoming undead or dying multiple times without pardon from a god.
>   * Death Saving Throw: When reduced to 0 hit points, a player character must succeed on three death saving throws before they fail three death saving throws. However, if a character is reduced to their negative maximum hit points, then they don't get to make death saving throws and are instead instantly killed.
>   * Eldritch Cannon: A weapon that Krel, as an Artillertist Artificer (player character class that focuses on building things and blowing things up) has access to.
>   * Eternal Stockade: Where death criminals are imprisoned.
>   * Fantasy Gachapon: From the podcast that this fic is based on; allows randomized magic item acquisition.
>   * Faerun: The continent where this takes place, and also the continent where most of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting occurs.
>   * Finger of Death: A level 7 spell that causes a really large amount of damage.
>   * Message: A level 0 spell that allows instantaneous whispered communication that only the sender and receiver can hear.
>   * Planar System: A self-contained multiverse.
>   * Prestidigitation: A level 0 spell that can be used for effects such as creating an instantaneous puff of sparks or adding flavor to a cubic foot of food.
>   * Reaper of the Cat King: A being charged with upholding the laws of life and death and of hunting down death criminals. This being can shapeshift and take on a skeletal form, or even become a ball of light. (In the podcast this is based on, the Cat King is the Raven Queen. I changed the terminology to better match Douxie.)
>   * Relic Wars: From the podcast that this fic is based on; a war over seven powerful magic items, called relics. At the end of the relic wars, knowledge of them was wiped by the Voidfish.
>   * Voidfish: From the podcast that this is based upon; a jellyfish that erases all knowledge of something. Drinking its ichor allows one to be inoculated and therefore perceive the erased knowledge. If one attempts to read or hear about this erased knowledge, all one can see/hear is static.
> 



End file.
